13 July 2010

Mind Game

I can't have all I want,
I know that very well - Yet
I want to have,
What I can't have!
What a strange mind,
That I have!

Smoking is bad,
I know that.
Many drugs are bad,
I know that.
Many things are bad,
I know that too.
So I want to quit;
But I can't quit!
Hmm...
My mind wants to quit - And
Doesn't want to quit!
Now...
Who controls my mind!?! - Is
Not a big question!?!

But how can I quit?
If I quit for a day – Or
Even reduce a bit,
I can treat myself,
With something good!
When I need control,
I bribe myself!
When I have to work hard,
I motivate myself!
Hmm...
My mind bribes itself!
My mind motivates itself!
As if...
It doesn't know itself!

I have no idea,
How I control - And
How I coordinate,
Hundreds of my muscles,
To balance myself - And
To move my legs – Yet
I think...
I walk consciously!

A monkey can do it,
A pocket calculator can do it,
But I can't remember,
A seven digit number,
In short-term memory!
I have no idea,
Where I store - And
How I store - Or
How I get back,
My short-term memory – Or
Long-term memory – Yet
I think...
I remember consciously!

I've just a vague idea,
How I choose my words,
With appropriate meaning;
How I arrange my words,
With proper grammar;
How I arrange my sentences,
With meaningful order – Yet
I think...
I speak consciously!

14 comments:

I cdnuolt blveiee taht I cluod aulaclty uesdnatnrd waht I was rdanieg. The phaonmneal pweor of the hmuan mnid, aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it dseno't mtaetr in waht oerdr the ltteres in a wrod are, the olny iproamtnt tihng is taht the frsit and lsat ltteer be in the rghit pclae. The rset can be a taotl mses and you can sitll raed it whotuit a pboerlm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe. Azanmig huh? yaeh and I awlyas tghuhot slpeling was ipmorantt!

Brain recognizes words & Face and drives social interaction, thinking, verbal & non-verbal skills, decision & sense making etc, Brain also has the ability to decide what kind of words and face to recognize, social interactions to make, thoughts to generate, verbal & non-verbal skills to demonstrate, sense to make and decisions to take.

Do something; decide something; decide to do something; decide to decide to do something… You can have any number of loops or recursive loops. Yet, it is just another function/operation/skill/capability.

Specific to your case, there are at least two different aspects: preferences and limitation (capability may not be the good word for this). We have many basic (from evolution) and extended (learned) drives, desires, and preferences. Based on these preferences, our brain decides or chooses something from others. When there are so many things or options or possibilities, way more than our brain can process, it chooses few important ones. Sometimes our brain misses few vital things because of this limitation. Preferences or limitations, our brain focuses/ decides/ chooses all the time. This focus is sometimes referred as attention (both inside-out and outside-in attentions).

I do not think I understand your question. You mean: is love a mind game? That depends how you define the word 'game'. As MIT professor in AI puts it, many cognitive words including love are suitcase words – one word refers so many things. Since we do not fully aware or understand how our mind works, we end up referring many things into one word – adding many things into one suitcase. A simple word for love (pasam) may be attachment or bond. Every animal's brain/mind creates attachment towards other individual for so many (evolutionary) reasons: mother to child, child to mother, father to child, lover to partner, follower to leader, fan to star, etc. However powerful a motherly love might be, it can be removed by removing just few chemicals from the brain (hormones, neurotransmitters, etc.).

Amiable dispatch and this enter helped me alot in my college assignement. Gratefulness you for your information.//

Thanks for your comment. For thousands of years philosophers asked so many questions mystifying mind. Now here comes cognitive science and reveals so many secrets of the mind and asks very simple questions that may open our mind. I would love to know, how this post helped your college assignment.

/I cdnuolt blveiee taht I cluod aulaclty uesdnatnrd waht I was rdanieg. The phaonmneal pweor of the hmuan mnid, aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it dseno't mtaetr in waht oerdr the ltteres in a wrod are, the olny iproamtnt tihng is taht the frsit and lsat ltteer be in the rghit pclae. The rset can be a taotl mses and you can sitll raed it whotuit a pboerlm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe. Azanmig huh? yaeh and I awlyas tghuhot slpeling was ipmorantt!//

Yeah Ive seen this before.

By the way the same phenomenon happens in music. Musicians who can "sightread" from a music sheet do not read note by note to form "words" but recognize whole patterns like scales or chords. This takes several years of rigorous practice...equivalent to the many years of struggle we go through in childhood to read and write.